It appears that Canada’s “business criminals” want to continue to
support Putin’s murderous regime so as to earn their “30 pieces of
silver”. In my opinion, the Ukrainian community should demand a
face-to-face meeting with Robert Fotheringham of the Canada Eurasia
Russia Business Association, Kinross Gold Corp. and any other firms
doing business in the Russian Federation and/or Ukraine to ensure that
they will not be condoning the genocidal policies of Vladimir Putin.

Any imports/exports between the Russian Federation and Canada (as well
as Ukraine and Canada) must be scrutinized and blocked if necessary.
The American Ukrainian community should follow a similar strategy in
the United States.

Canadian firms with ties
to Russia urge Ottawa to limit sanctions

Canadian businesses with interests in Russia are urging Ottawa to
reconsider imposing tougher sanctions in response to Russian President
Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea, as Canada’s allies ponder new
restrictions.

European Union ministers are meeting on Thursday to
discuss another round of measures, which is expected to add names to a
list of Russian and Ukrainian officials who face bans on travel and
business dealings. Canada and the U.S. have also issued similar targeted
lists.

Canada’s
Foreign Minister John Baird and his EU and U.S. counterparts have
warned of broader, more damaging financial or trade measures -- moves
that could block imports and exports, or bar dealings with Russia’s
banks. This could also have a major effect on Canadian firms with
operations in Russia, including a number of mining and oil-and-gas
companies.

Speculation about more comprehensive sanctions is
already affecting global commodities markets. Analysts blame concerns
over potential punishment aimed at Moscow, in part, for a rise in the
price of nickel, a big Russian export.

Robert Fotheringham,
chairman of the Toronto chapter of the Canada Eurasia Russia Business
Association, said the current limited sanctions have already dented a
burgeoning confidence in Russia among some Canadian businesses -- confidence it took a long time to build.

His group is urging
Ottawa to choose “balance and restraint” and pursue dialogue instead of
“lobbing insults” or taking more punitive measures that could do
permanent damage to the relationship. Large companies with interests in
Russia, such as Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corp., have also been meeting
with Ottawa to send a similar message.

“Russians are our friends.
It’s Cold War thinking to automatically think the Russians are bad and
we should automatically oppose them,” Mr. Fotheringham said. “When a
friend does something that you are not happy about, you talk to them,
you have a dialogue.”

The direct economic effect on Canada of any
new sanctions would be limited. Canadians have $5-billion invested in
Russia, Mr. Fotheringham said, and bilateral trade sits at $3-billion a
year.

However, companies with operations in Russia are clearly at
risk. Milos Barutciski, an international trade lawyer at Bennett Jones
LLP in Toronto, says he has been speaking for weeks to clients with
interests in Ukraine and Russia and says they are concerned about what
future sanctions may entail.

He said those with operations on the
ground in Ukraine have more immediate concerns, such as the fear of
civil unrest or worse: “If you’re a Canadian company there, the legal
issue is one thing, but as the thing starts spinning out in various
directions, you start thinking about the security concerns.”

Despite
the turmoil, Kinross, which is one of Canada’s largest gold producers,
said Thursday that it was business as usual in Russia. The company’s two
Russian mines account for about 27 per cent of its total gold
production.

The Toronto-based miner would not comment on whether
it had any backup plans if stricter sanctions begin to affect its
ability to do business.

But the company said it has spoken to
Canadian government officials about its “desire to see a balanced
approach to resolving this situation, which considers Canadian interests
in Russia.”

Experts say sanctions are often ratcheted up
gradually, pointing to the escalating penalties the international
community has applied to Iran and Serbia.

The Russian sanctions
imposed so far pale in comparison to the penalties imposed against Iran,
which were years in the making and eventually slashed its oil revenues
and hurt the country’s economy. The United States prohibited financial
institutions from doing oil transactions with Iran’s central bank, the
main conduit for Tehran’s oil payments.

Russia is also a huge exporter of natural resources and ranks among the world’s largest producers of nickel, oil and steel.